Late Night Medical Marijuana Robocall Snafu Angers Florida Voters

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The campaign working against legalizing medical marijuana has provoked the anger of hundreds of people who say Drug Free Florida called them in the middle of the night advising them to say "no" to Amendment 2.

After the election, marijuana could be legal for recreational or medical use in 29 states

Marijuana could be legal for medical or recreational use in 29 U.S. states after the November election.

The issue will be put to voters in nine states, with legalization backers enjoying well-funded campaigns and polls showing a high likelihood that they will prevail in the most populous states.

Medical Marijuana Offers Opportunities For The Daring Investor

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Summary

• Growing consensus for the potential medical benefits of cannabis-based drugs.
• Difficult to pick winners amongst a welter of small medical marijuana start-ups.
• Political as well as financial considerations need to be taken into account by investors.
• Recent volatility in Nemus Bioscience's share price illustrates the unexpected twists and turns in the market.

Does Legalization Affect Medical Marijuana? The Lesson of Washington

Some in the medical marijuana community are fighting to defeat these legalization measures. Many of them cite the example of Washington State as a lesson for what happens to medical marijuana in the wake of legalization.

These Legalization Ads Just Might Sway Your Vote

“Think of the children!”

That seems to be the rallying cry as we enter the final stretch of election season. Legalization opponents in a number of states are now bombing the airwaves with ads, and many of them feature variations on the child-danger theme: A child recoils from a cloud of smoke; a sad, woeful child’s eyes gaze at the camera from a hospital bed; and a frantic mother pulls her child away from an adult-use cannabis shop decked out with smiling marijuana leaves.

Why Medical Marijuana Use Is Dropping For Older Americans

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For older adults exploring the new world of medical marijuana, age 65 seems to be a tipping point. Those under that age use the drug for medical purposes at largely the rates of other adults. Usage among people over 65 appears to drop significantly, though, perhaps because of the culture in which they came of age.

Senate President Stanley Rosenburg Backs Marijuana Legalization Initiative

Massachusetts Senate President Stanley Rosenburg says he will vote for Question4 this November, which would legalize marijuana for adult recreational use in Massachusetts. This makes him the highest-ranking official in the state to support legal recreational marijuana. A majority of Beacon Hill lawmakers oppose his decision.

Crossing Ethical Lines: How Your Tax Dollars are Funding Cannabis Opponents

This year the pharmaceutical, alcohol, and prison food industries have all weighed in to oppose marijuana legalization initiatives across the country. This comes as little surprise: These industries all have financial interests in keeping marijuana illegal. By funding anti-legalization efforts, they’re simply admitting it.

A higher authority: The rabbinical answer to medical marijuana

Cannabis [Illustrative]. (photo credit:INIMAGE)

As the medical marijuana industry expands in Israel and the US, rabbinic authorities are weighing in.

It was mid-2015, and the Orthodox Union was in a quandary. New York State was in the process of launching its medical marijuana program, and the OU, one of the world’s largest and most respected kosher certification agencies, had been approached by more than one company eager to get its certification. But could the organization’s rabbis give their stamp of approval to a drug illegal in much of the world?

It's High Time the U.S. Cloned Canada's Medical Pot Model

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America’s presidential candidates have been conspicuously cagey about the status of federal medical marijuana legalization during this campaign season, suggesting that state officials are in for at least another four years of slapdash lawmaking and enforcing. In Canada, however, getting medical marijuana is a federally regulated, streamlined process akin to getting a library card or ordering an Uber. Attempting to do the same stateside can be a pain in the ass, especially if you’re in one of the the 25 states where medical pot isn’t legal.

Did a Massachusetts Senate Panel Mislead Voters About Legalization?

Cannabis supporters in the legalization-battleground state of Massachusetts are pushing back against a state Senate report, claiming its “misconstrued statistics and unfounded speculation” have misinformed voters about legalization in the lead-up to November’s election.

Medical marijuana doesn’t make for more teenage stoners

Adults more likely to blaze it though

Legalizing medical marijuana doesn’t make more teens into stoners, researchers say. Though more people over 25 were likely to ingest marijuana if their home states approved it for medical purposes, there was no effect on anyone younger.

Not Your Parents’ Dealer: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Today

Brightly lit rooms, enticing menus and a smiling staff greet customers from the entrance of the Green Door.  What initially might seem like a favorite coffee bar is actually a San Francisco dispensary.

Legalization 2016: America Votes

If 2012 was cannabis legalization’s breakthrough election, 2016 may prove to be the movement’s tipping point. When Colorado and Washington state voted to allow the adult use of cannabis in 2012, 12 million Americans gained the freedom to purchase and consume. If all five adult-use ballot measures pass in 2016, a total of 76 million people — nearly one-quarter of the U.S. population — will live in states with legal, regulated adult-use cannabis. On the medical side, Florida, Arkansas, and North Dakota would add 24 million residents to the roughly 160 million Americans already living in 25 states with legal medical cannabis.

How Cannabis Could Turn the Opioid Epidemic Around

Those fortunate enough to only know the word “opioid” outside the context of personal tragedy may not realize what this addiction looks like up close. Opioid abuse is a scary-sounding statistic, with something to the tune of 19,000 Americans dying of overdose in 2014 alone, and a four-fold increase in opioid prescriptions written since 1999.

How the Nation's Oldest Medical Marijuana Law Could Be Affected by Proposition 64

Grace Medical Marijuana Pharmacy is at Pico Boulevard and Centinela Avenue a stone's throw from the 10 Freeway.

If Proposition 64 passes this November, California will bid adieu to the nation’s oldest medical marijuana law. Enacted in 1996, Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act, created looser restrictions on cannabis use across the state. 

Major Rights Groups: Decriminalize Use of All Illicit Drugs

As Americans debate the expanding campaign to legalize marijuana, two of the nation’s most prominent human rights organizations are urging a far bolder step — the decriminalization of possession and personal use of all illicit drugs.

This Company Uses Bitcoin Blockchain For Medical Marijuana DNA Sequencing

A molecular information company called Medicinal Genomics (MCG) has partnered with 12 cannabis processors and cultivators to develop genomics-based safety and quality standards, and they are using the bitcoin blockchain to track DNA sequencing cannabis strains.

In search of releaf

With the future of medical marijuana in Montana uncertain, one Missoula provider has transformed a downtown storefront into a hub for discourse

From inside the frosted windows of Bobby Long's downtown Missoula storefront, the steady stream of curious pedestrians appear as mere silhouettes. They stop momentarily to study the molecular designs on the glass or read the business description printed in black lettering on the door. A sign out front advertises an upcoming First Friday show Oct. 7. Occasionally someone will lift a hand to the handle and attempt to enter, only to find the door securely locked.

Expert Addresses Common Misconceptions About Medical Marijuana Use in Patients With Cancer

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Judith Paice discusses many of the misconceptions that people have about the use of medical marijuana for patients with cancer.

The use of medical marijuana, which is available in more than a dozen states across America, is surrounded by stigma, questions and misconceptions.

CBD and the Brain: What Does It Do and What is it Good For?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of many cannabinoid molecules produced by Cannabis, second only to THC in abundance. These plant-derived cannabinoids, or phytocannabinoids (phyto = plant in Greek), are characterized by their ability to act on the cannabinoid receptors that are part of our endocannabinoid system. While THC is the principal psychoactive component of Cannabis and has certain medical uses, CBD stands out because it is both non-psychoactive and displays a broad range of potential medical applications. These properties make it especially attractive as a therapeutic agent.

Pets Become Latest Consumers of Medical Marijuana

Little Kitty, 12, suffers from arthritis. She has been taking Treatwell's cannabis-based tincture for a few months.
Credit: Emily Berl for The New York Times


Pet owners have turned to pot in order to treat many of their pets’ illnesses, reporting success after using the drug on their pets for a wide variety of ailments.

Your Doctor Probably Isn’t Worried About Your Cannabis Use

When it comes to the things we can do to our bodies and the risks that we could take that make our physicians worry for us, as it turns out, cannabis use is not high on the list. Actually, your doctor is more likely to worry about you riding a motorcycle without a helmet or partaking in sex with a prostitute than they are to worry about whether or not you toke up now and again.

Democrats Are Backing Legalization in Key States

In the battle for November, several state political parties have recently endorsed cannabis initiatives that will soon go before the voters.

How medical marijuana could help boomers get the most out of retirement

States that passed medical marijuana laws saw a significant boost to older Americans' workforce participation, according to a new working paper from researchers at Johns Hopkins and Temple University. States with medical marijuana laws also saw improvements in overall health for older men, although the health effects for older women were more mixed.

Justin Bieber Condemns Big Pharma For Blocking Medical Marijuana Legalization: VIDEO

Medical marijuana advocates have a new ally ― and he’s tweeting his support to a massive audience.

COULD A CHEMICAL FOUND IN MARIJUANA BE A TREATMENT FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE?

RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED THE BENEFITS OF THC IN THE BRAIN

Sometimes researchers come across a discovery purely by accident. They develop a hypothesis, perform a number of experiments and expect to see a series of results. However, at times, surprises happen within the petri plate or culture dish. This in turns opens up an entirely new avenue of curiosity and future experimental design.

Does Cannabis Interact with Antidepressants?

Cannabis can make people feel more relaxed, less stressed, and, of course, happier. So predictably, people experiencing depression or anxiety are much more likely to use cannabis — and more of it — than people not suffering from these conditions.

Colorado Gives Cannabis Candy a New Look to Avoid Confusion

Wondering if that brownie contains cannabis? Colorado has you covered.
A requirement that edible marijuana products come with a diamond-shaped stamp and the letters T-H-C — not just on the packaging but on the brownies, candies and other edibles themselves — takes effect Saturday.

Medical marijuana legal fight rages over expanding qualifying conditions

A flowering room at Revolution Enterprises Cannabis in Delavan, Ill., is seen Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. The $23 million, 75,525-square-foot facility is a medical marijuana cultivation center, "a growers paradise for the research of cannabis" stated Tim McGraw, CEO and founder of Revolution Enterprises. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

When Illinois expanded its medical marijuana program this summer to allow more conditions to qualify for the drug's use, advocates hailed the change as a victory for patients.

Marijuana measures on the ballot in 9 states on Nov. 8

In this April 20, 2016 file photo, customers buy products at the Harvest Medical Marijuana Dispensary in San Francisco. From California, with its counterculture heritage, to the fishing ports and mill towns of Maine, millions of Americans in nine states have a chance to vote Nov. 8 on expanding legal access to marijuana. Collectively, the ballot measures amount to the closest the U.S. has come to a national referendum on the drug. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)

Voters on Nov. 8 will decide ballot measures in nine states that would expand legal access to marijuana. Here's a rundown:

Congress Won’t Let Veterans Access Medical Marijuana After All

J.CASTRO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Congressional leadership removed language from a spending bill that would have allowed Veterans Administration doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients.

An effort to allow veterans to access medical marijuana in states where it’s legal died Wednesday night when Congress passed a spending bill without the provision included.

Medical Marijuana Replaces More Dangerous Drugs

A new study adds to the evidence that letting patients use cannabis saves lives by reducing consumption of pharmaceuticals.

Insys Therapeutics, the Arizona-based pharmaceutical company that recently became the biggest financial supporter of the campaign against marijuana legalization in that state, makes an oral spray that delivers the opioid painkiller fentanyl and plans to market another one that contains dronabinol, a synthetic version of THC. Insys says it gave $500,000 to the main group opposing Arizona's legalization initiative because the measure "fails to protect the safety of Arizona's citizens, and particularly its children." But one needn't be terribly cynical to surmise that Insys also worries about the impact that legalization might have on its bottom line, since marijuana could compete with its products.

Some Surprising Health Benefits of Hemp Seeds

Even people who don’t have a life altering condition can benefit from cannabis use – however the benefits of the marijuana plant’s twin, hemp, have been much less discussed until recently.

Medical Cannabis 2016: New Benefits Of Medicinal Marijuana: VIDEO

The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes medical marijuana as “using the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or its basic extracts to treat a disease or symptom.”
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S. resulting in at least 584,881 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recent animal studies show that marijuana extracts can help kill certain cancer cells and even reduce the size of some of them. But, marijuana is still illegal in several states. The number of people who’ve died due to an overdose of marijuana? None.

Drug companies fight medical marijuana

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Disclosure about financing of the anti-medical marijuana campaign in Arkansas is so far lacking, but it's no secret what's happened in other states — pharmaceutical companies have worked to defeat medical marijuana laws because they create (safer) competition.

Del. Dan Morhaim faces ethics probe inquiry over dual medical marijuana roles

State Del. Dan K. Morhaim, a Baltimore County Democrat, stands near flags at Stevenson University's Owings Mills campus. (Steve Ruark/Baltimore Sun Media Group)

Maryland Del. Dan K. Morhaim helped shape the rules on medical marijuana and had direct access to its regulators even while he was involved with a company seeking licenses to grow, process and sell the drug, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post.

Medical Marijuana Seems To Reduce Deaths From Pharmaceuticals

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I cover the war on drugs from a conscientious objector's perspective.
Jacob Sullum,   CONTRIBUTOR

Insys Therapeutics, the Arizona-based pharmaceutical company that recently became the biggest financial supporter of the campaign against marijuana legalization in that state, makes an oral spray that delivers the opioid painkiller fentanyl and plans to market another one that contains dronabinol, a synthetic version of THC. Insys says it gave $500,000 to the main group opposing Arizona’s legalization initiative because the measure “fails to protect the safety of Arizona’s citizens, and particularly its children.” But one needn’t be terribly cynical to surmise that Insys also worries about the impact that legalization might have on its bottom line, since marijuana could compete with its products.

U.S. Attorney General Says Cannabis Is Not a Gateway Drug

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch acknowledged that the consumption of cannabis does not lead a person to use harder drugs. Lynch’s public statement may be the clearest repudiation yet of the mythical “gateway theory” originally fabricated by drug czar Harry Anslinger in the 1950s.

Seniors told medical marijuana 'isn't just smoking a joint'

From left, Virginia Stahl of Oswego, Anita Zapata of Aurora and Mary Ann Soszynski of Oswego attend a medical marijuana session at the Oswego Senior Center Tuesday. (Linda Girardi / The Beacon-News)

Seniors filled the Oswego Senior Center community room Tuesday to learn more about medical marijuana, a treatment option defenders say often gets a bad rap.

Underground Medical Marijuana Delivery in Boston: VIDEO

He’s a combat veteran who completed dozens of missions in Iraq. His newest mission is delivering medical marijuana in Boston, and he let 7News come along.

Cannabis & the Constitution: A Brief History of Cannabis in the U.S.

The Constitution of the United States is arguably the most important document in the history of this country, aside from possibly the Declaration of Independence. It forms the backbone of America’s most basic rights, liberties, and laws upon which democracy is founded.

Marijuana Could Be the Answer to Curing Alzheimer's Disease, Study Shows

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The statistics associated with Alzheimer's disease are downright depressing.

The disease, which typically affects the elderly and is characterized by a progressive decline in cognitive function, currently afflicts 5.4 million Americans, and the Alzheimer's Association expects the direct and indirect costs of treatment to reach $236 billion in 2016. Some one in nine people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer's disease, and within the U.S., it's the sixth-leading cause of death.

Opioid use decreases in US states that legalize medical marijuana - study

New research shows a decline in the use of opioid painkillers in US states that allow people to treat pain with medical marijuana, affirming the fears of Big Pharma who have been vigorously seeking to frustrate efforts to legalize the herb.

Advocates Worry Massachusetts Won’t Say ‘Yes on 4’

Election day is approaching and there are ten state ballot initiatives concerning marijuana reform, but only one state is in the running to become an East Coast trailblazer of legal adult-use cannabis laws. A majority vote in favor of question 4 on the 2016 state ballot would approve the legalization, taxation, and regulation of the plant for adults. That means Massachusetts voters are charged with the possibility of making the Bay State the bellwether for East Coast recreational cannabis.

Gov. Chris Christie signs bill approving marijuana for PTSD treatment

New Jersey medical marijuana is also approved to treat multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer and muscular dystrophy, among other medical diseases. Pictured: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responds after being asked about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's emotionally charged feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son, Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed by a suicide bomber, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in Trenton, N.J. (Mel Evans, The Associated Press)

Veterans and others in New Jersey can now legally treat their post-traumatic stress disorder with marijuana.

Does access to medical marijuana reduce opioid deaths?

In the United States, 25 states have legalized medical marijuana, including 19 that let patients with a prescription buy pot from dispensaries. Proponents argue that expanding the availability of medical marijuana reduces opioid abuse and overdose deaths because it gives people an alternative for pain relief.

The 25 States Where Medical Marijuana Is Legal

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It is presumed that states where medical marijuana is legal will be the most likely to have laws that provide for recreational use. The number of medical marijuana states numbers 25 at this point.

Opioid Companies Lobby Against Medical Marijuana

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Our next several blogs will catalogue the various ways drug companies have ruthlessly promoted our nation’s deadly opioid epidemic. This first installment on just the latest outrage- political lobbying to block the legalization of medical marijuana. Future blogs will each tell other aspects of this sordid story.

Legal Marijuana Prices Are Plunging in Colorado, but Not for the Reason You'd Expect

Cannabis' competitive landscape is going up in smoke.

As a whole, the marijuana industry has come a long way in a short amount of time.